What has been the most rewarding project or deal you’ve worked on in your career, and why? A saying I heard in college that has stuck with me through the years is “respect tradition but embrace innovation.” I particularly enjoy seeing this concept applied to construction projects – one recent example being the repurpose of the Sacred Heart church in Fall River, MA. It was incredibly rewarding to see the concept and the customer’s vision transform (what was previously considered) an obsolete structure into a new functional building providing needed market-rate housing.

What drew you to commercial real estate, and what keeps you passionate? I have always been passionate about land and how it is used. By pursuing a career in commercial real estate, I am able to connect that interest with the innovation that is involved in improving or developing the properties around me. And like the Sacred Heart project, these initiatives can often have lasting, positive impacts on the surrounding communities.

What’s a challenge you faced early in your career, and how did you overcome it? During one of my first ground-up construction loans for a new hotel, the inspector contacted me in the early morning on the day of the first inspection. Apparently, the general contractor was requiring everyone to wear steel-toe boots, so he assumed that he wouldn’t be seeing me for the inspection that day. Little did he know, my farm boots are steel-toed! It may not have been my most fashionable inspection, but I was still there for the project walk-through – despite preconceptions that others may have had.